June 2025 Queer / LGBTQ Book Releases

Brooklyn 99 meets The Charm Offensive in this sparkling romantic murder mystery: it’s murder cute in the first degree when a detective finds himself falling for the lead suspect in a career-making case.

At 29, Detective Rav Trivedi is the youngest member of the NYPD’s homicide squad, and his future looks bright. He may be a bit of an outsider in the department―an ivy-league educated gay Brit with a weakness for designer suits―but his meteoric rise and solve rate prove he belongs.

So when his CO assigns him lead on the high-profile murder of a record executive, Rav is ready for action. He won’t be distracted by TV crews, tabloids, or what’s trending on social media, nor by the ridiculously hot rock star with a clear motive and no alibi.

This is it, his shot, and he is not going to screw it up―certainly not by falling in love with his number one suspect…

This steamy friends-to-lovers gay romance explores what happens when a kindergarten teacher falls for a student’s single father—while overcoming trauma and dealing with anxiety—perfect for fans of Casey McQuiston and Anita Kelly. 

Those who can, teach. Marvin Block is one of the best kindergarten teachers out there. And despite his anxiety, Marvin’s life is sweet. He knows what he wants. And what he wants is the Teacher of the Year Award. Not just for himself – his school needs him to win.​

Returning from break, the New Year finds Marvin all set to welcome a new pupil to his class. But when Illona walks in with her cute-as-hell single dad beside her, Marvin’s focus starts to slide. Sure, his students always come first, but he deserves to have a life outside the classroom, too, right?​

As their friendship starts to deepen, Marvin realizes Olan has the potential to teach him things about love he never thought possible. But with the Teacher of the Year award and his school’s future on the line, now’s not the time for anything complicated.​ Education has always been Marvin’s world. And he needs to keep a cool head if he wants to win the award and save his school. But will it be worth it if he loses Olan in the process?​

With Olan’s past and Marvin’s present colliding, their experiment in love hangs in the balance. Marvin knows what he wants out of life. But now he’s forced to consider what he wants out of love. Will Marvin chalk the relationship up to experience? Or can they revise their story into a textbook romance?

Now with bonuses including a new epilogue and artwork of the characters. 

Popular bookstagrammer Chip Pons’s gay rom-com about two men who impulsively pose as a couple to compete in a reality show contest just minutes after meeting at an airport, and their run-in with the very real feelings that start to simmer between them.

Catching flights . . . and feelings

Asher Bennett thought his relationship was just fine. Until he’s unceremoniously dumped at the Boston airport ahead of the world-wide travel competition reality show, The Epic Trek. Armed with only a ticket and righteous indignation, Asher finds the closest solace he can: a mimosa and mozzarella sticks combo at an airport TGI Fridays. Still, Asher is determined to find a new partner and luckily, right in front of him is a smooth-talking airline pilot ready for takeoff.

Theo Fernandez has been grounded. He’s the only pilot that has never taken a vacation and the edict has been passed down: prove you’re prioritizing a work-life balance or say goodbye to your wings. As he struggles to bask in his new downtime, without reconnecting with his family, he stumbles upon the perfect opportunity. The handsome guy who “stole” his mozzarella sticks at his favorite terminal eatery has a sudden opening for a partner . . . on a nationally televised reality show.

Theo and Asher buckle up to fake date for the cameras, but as they do the undercurrents of attraction make them wonder if their on-screen chemistry hints at something bigger. Do they have the courage to leave behind their baggage, and wing it together for another chance at love?

Reeling from a breakup, English professor Zack Carter is trying to pull himself together for his sister’s wedding. His recovery includes hiring sexy, snarky, and multi-talented Marcus Berens as his personal trainer. When Zack finds out his ex has chosen his former bully as her wedding date, Marcus agrees to play the role of Zack’s boyfriend. But despite a shared love of theater, neither of them are good at pretending their feelings are just an act.

This thrilling historical fantasy set days before Mount Vesuvius destroys Pompeii is a meet cute with an explosive fallout.

This limited First Edition hardcover includes metallic foil on the jacket and a hidden illustrated case!

An exploration of ambition and class, autonomy and religion, survival and love, Vesuvius combines the romantic angst of They Both Die at the End and the blended magic and history of The Song of Achilles to show readers that it is never too late to change your fate—or change the world.

Clever thief Felix slips from city to city to survive the present and escape a past he can’t remember. When Felix steals a divine artifact—Mercury’s helmet—from a temple in Pompeii, pieces of his forgotten past begin to surface.

Loren, an ambitious temple attendant, has seen Felix in his apocalyptic nightmares for years. The last thing Loren expects is for his dream to stumble headfirst through his temple doors, moments after an earthquake rocks the city.

When Felix shows Loren the helmet, Loren sees the world coming to an end. He knows they have mere days to uncover Felix’s ties to the relic and to Loren’s visions if they have any hope of saving the city. But Ancient Rome is ruled by bloody politics and unstoppable destinies, and now that Loren and Felix are intertwined, their lives aren’t all they risk losing. When all has turned to ash and rubble, the boys will have to piece together their fates to make it out of a burning city alive.

A speculative avant-garde queer horror novel that reads like an erotic vampiric nightmare directed by Jodorowsky playing at a ’50s drive-in.

Beyond the Planet of the Vampires is a gay pulp horror novel of chance. The narrative erratically loses and regains consciousness during an apocalyptic space invasion of psychic vampires, reaching across intergalactic fathoms in search of future victims.

Smoldering in a social alienation reminiscent of Genet’s outlaw anti-heroes, Baer’s novel screams with Joycean word play in an entirely new and unique idiom, where theories of Kant are situated with reckonings of identity and postulations on the nature of evil.

On each page, Ulrich Baer creates an enigmatic performance of both philosophical and queer thought, exercised through the rich aesthetic experience of a retro horror film. Beyond the Planet of the Vampires redefines avant-garde in a relentless, generation-defining voice.

Molly Dowd Sullivan marks her debut with a thrilling urban fantasy novel that grabs you and won’t let go. Dark elements of psychic infection, body horror, trauma, and tragic love play against the backdrop of a compelling murder mystery.

Liam O’Connor is special. When a Fissure opens in someone’s mind, he’s the one who sews it up again. When a parasite creeps through that Fissure, Liam is the exterminator who purges it. And when Liam loses everything, he’s the coward who runs. But when he moves to an old house in coastal New England, hoping for isolation, something from his past follows. Fissures start tearing open; minds are devoured. People die. It’s not long before Liam realizes a murderer has come to Shoalport, and he’s the only one who can stop them.

Well, him, and the man who keeps haunting his dreams.

For fans of A Song of Achilles, CS Pacat, and Stephen King.

A multiverse novel about two women who fall in love despite living in worlds that are five months apart, as they try to find a timeline that doesn’t end in disaster, in this debut novel by Annie Mare.

Tressa Fay Robeson has never been shy, which is how she’s made a name for herself as an in-demand hairstylist and social media star. So she can admit that spending her days at her hair salon and her nights with her tight-knit group of friends (and one grumpy cat) is not the kind of exciting life she’d hoped for.

When a misdirected text from a stranger leads to a flirty exchange, she surprises herself by suggesting an impulsive meetup. But the woman, Meryl, never shows. Tressa Fay brushes it off—until Meryl’s sister and friend show up at the salon demanding to know what’s going on. Because, you see, there’s no way Meryl could have texted her. Meryl has been missing for a month.

Tressa Fay and her tight-knit group of friends soon discover they aren’t dealing with a catfish, but a temporal paradox. As they come to terms with the idea of parallel universes, they realize how many times their paths have crossed like this before. But even as they understand the multiverse more and more, nothing keeps Meryl from vanishing.

As it draws closer to the moment of Meryl’s disappearance, there’s only one question left: Have they done enough to change the outcome, or have they done so much that none of them will make it past that fateful day in September?

Lucy Price thought a romantic cruise with her boyfriend, Chris, would help repair their rocky relationship. But when his old habits of gambling and drinking resurface, Lucy finds herself wandering the ship alone-until she meets Scarlett Sinclair, an alluring art dealer with a passion for beauty and a past she’s trying to leave behind.

Drawn into the world of art auctions and quiet conversations with Scarlett, Lucy begins to question the life she’s built with Chris. What starts as a simple connection over shared interests turns into something deeper, something that stirs feelings Lucy never expected. As the cruise nears its end, Lucy must decide if she’s willing to take a risk on the unknown or stay anchored to the familiar.

The Love Gallery is a heartfelt romance about rediscovering yourself, embracing new possibilities, and learning to love beyond the boundaries you thought you knew.

Cleat Cute meets Friday Night Lights in this funny, spicy, emotional new sapphic romance from Jodie Slaughter.

Jade Dunn has spent years trying to climb her way to the top of the southern high school football food chain. Now, the only thing standing between her and that future head coach spot is years of small-town good ‘ol boy politics. When she scores an invite to a highly coveted monthly poker game perfect for networking, she jumps at the chance for a seat at the table. Only to find the one person with the ability to shake her there. An infuriatingly sexy art teacher who plays her cards like she’s gunning for Jade’s deserved spot.

Francesca Lim never thought she’d be happy in a small town, not after living and breathing hardcore Texas football her whole life. But two years ago, the promise of forever love had her leaving behind a burgeoning coaching career for a new life – only for it to burst into flames. Now, she has a chance to gain back a piece of her life she thought she’d left in Houston. The only one standing in the way? The prickly assistant coach that Francesca can’t keep her mind or hands off of.

Not wanting to risk losing out on a dream job, Jade and Francesca can’t afford to give in to the iron hot attraction that simmers beneath their biting interactions, so they try desperately to ignore it. Too bad their hearts don’t seem to be as on board with the game plan.

Jodie Slaughter’s Ready to Score shows how sometimes you have to go big or go home to get the life – and love – you deserve.

When an aspiring archaeologist teams up with her childhood enemy for a treasure hunt, they find it impossible to bury their growing feelings, in a charming queer historical romance from the author of A Shore Thing.
 
Elfreda Marsden has finally made a major discovery—an ancient amulet proving the Viking army camped on her family’s estate. Too bad her nemesis is back from London, freshly exiled after a scandal and ready to wreak havoc on her life. Georgie Redmayne is everything Elfreda isn’t–charming, popular, carefree, distractingly attractive, and bored to death by the countryside. When the two collide (literally), the amulet is lost, and with it, Elfreda’s big chance to lead a proper excavation. Now Elfreda needs new evidence of medieval activity, and Georgie needs money to escape the doldrums of Derbyshire. Joining forces to locate a hidden hoard of Viking gold is the best chance for them both. 
 
Marsdens and Redmaynes don’t get along, and that’s the least of the reasons these enemies can’t dream of something more. But as the quest takes them on unexpected adventures, sparks of attraction ignite a feeling increasingly difficult to identify as hatred. It’s far too risky to explore. And far too tempting to resist. Elfreda and Georgie soon find that the real treasure comes with a steep price… and the promise of a happiness beyond all measure.

A steamy sapphic romance with a fantastical twist about two bitter tennis rivals who realize they are reluctant soulmates—perfect for fans of Expiration Dates and Here We Go Again.

Juliette Ricci dreams of only one thing: being the best women’s tennis player in the world. She’s worked nonstop with her strict father/coach to prepare for her big chance in the Australian Open. Unfortunately, she’ll be playing Lucky Luca Kacic, an aloof player whose unorthodox style and reigning popularity deeply irritate Juliette.

For months they’ve traded sly insults in their press conferences leading up to their showdown on the court, and their first ever match is the most anticipated of the season. But Juliette refuses to let her nerves—or Luca’s annoyingly perfect abs—get the best of her.

Meanwhile, Luca seemingly has everything Juliette desires but there’s one thing missing from her life: love. When she shakes hands with Juliette after an agonizing match and sees her rival’s name appear on her wrist, it feels like a cruel joke. Juliette is a spoiled, arrogant brat who wants absolutely nothing to do with Luca or a soulmate.

But despite their personal and professional clashes, the two grow closer after late-night massages and one too many shots of limoncello. Their chemistry is tangible, but Luca’s anxiety tells her that Juliette is just messing with her head to throw her off her game, and Juliette can’t understand why Luca is so hot and cold. With the pressure of the world scrutinizing their every move, they will have to decide what’s more important—being together or being number one.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith meets The Pairing in this heart-racing romance of secrets, spies, and steam.

A few rules for the international superspy:
(1) Never blow your cover.
(2) Never accept the first plan.
(3) Never fall for anyone at the agency. Especially if she’s your ex-girlfriend.

Yardley Whitmer, code name “the Unicorn,” can do no wrong. She’s honed her spycraft and become an instant legend in the field. If only breaking up with her girlfriend were as easy as rappelling off the Eiffel Tower. Living a full-time cover story has slowly eroded her relationship until there’s nothing left but lies.

KC “Tabasco” Nolan, hacker extraordinaire, can crack any code—except the one that would tell her the right moment to confess her secret job to Yardley. Now it’s too late, and she’s in danger of losing the best chance at love she’s ever had.

When an undercover shakedown goes wrong, Yardley and KC discover the unbelievable truth—that they’ve both been working at the agency for years. To salvage the mission, they partner up and fly across oceans, race through winding European streets, and give in to inconvenient passion while hiding in an ambassador’s linen closet. But can they throw away their rules and fight through their secrets to fall in love with each other’s true selves?

Emily has, by all appearances, a perfect life: a townhouse on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, two healthy children, and a husband who showers her with attention. But the truth is more complicated: Emily’s marriage is in trouble, her relationship with her parents is fraught, and she is still nursing a heartbreak from long ago. When Emily runs into her high school girlfriend at a cocktail party, that heartbreak comes roaring back. But Gen Hall is no longer the lanky, hungry kid with holes in her shoes who Emily loved in her youth. Instead, Gen is now a famous Olympic athlete with sponsorship deals and a string of high-profile ex-girlfriends.

Emily and Gen circle one another cautiously, drawn together by a magnetic attraction and scarred by their shared history. Once upon a time, Gen knew everything about Emily. And yet, she still abandoned her. Can Emily trust Gen again? Can they forgive each other for the mistakes they made in their past? Should Emily risk her children, her privacy, and the fragile peace she has found to be with a woman she loved long ago?

A sweeping romance, Ordinary Love is the beautiful, wrenching, completely seductive story of two people trying to forge a path toward hope, bound by a love they discovered when they were too young to understand its power.

It’s the hottest Christmas on record…

Like naughty and nice, Mariah and Ellie are complete opposites. Small-time actress Ellie is thrilled to be back on set of a cozy holiday film, while makeup artist Mariah only views the low-budget project as a stepping stone on her way to more serious movies. The pair definitely don’t hit it off when they’re introduced, but if they want to survive the summer heat—and Mariah’s stifling Canadian hometown—they’ve got to keep it professional. Luckily, holiday cheer is Ellie’s specialty, and she’s determined to win stubborn Mariah over.

Mariah finds one bright spot in her forced second Christmas: hot hookups with an edgy local bartender. The romance even has her opening up to Ellie—who admits to crushing on her wholesome cottage-rental host. But when Ellie and Mariah realize the guys are cheating on them, they band together to get revenge. It’s fun planning their own Home Alone–inspired pranks…until Ellie and Mariah realize they’re actually falling for each other.

But the film shoot is too short to get serious, so they’ll have to decide: Was their romance simply a holiday fling or a real Christmas-in-July miracle?

Two exes reunite to fix up and sell the bed-and-breakfast that destroyed their marriage—because some dreams, no matter how dusty or broken, deserve a second chance.

Their love story is a bit of a fixer-upper.

As newlyweds, Molly and Robin made the Hummingbird Inn into a trendy destination for queer travelers in the quirky mountain town of Eureka Springs, Arkansas. But when their career ambitions drove them apart, the young couple separated, handed over the property’s upkeep to a management firm, and never looked back.

Seven years later, Molly and Robin return to the Hummingbird Inn for very different reasons. Molly is an artist on the rise who’s been commissioned to create pieces in Eureka Springs; Robin is a celebrity chef whose restaurants have gone belly-up. Both feel entitled to their shared property, furious that the other refuses to leave, and each resorts to a series of escalating pranks in the hopes of scaring the other off. When neither woman budges, they resolve to renovate the bed-and-breakfast together, sell it, and at last go their separate ways. But their work to restore the inn’s vintage charm reignites memories—and chemistry—that make it hard to say goodbye.

Thomas Mori is running away. A new job, a new drag persona, and a new community means he can hopefully leave the scars of his past behind him and work on curating a face he can stand seeing in the mirror.

Brian Ramirez is searching for love. After a long line of relationships gone sour, a summer in New York with his girlfriend, Anna, feels like the perfect opportunity to build the sort of white picket fence life he’s always dreamed of.

So when a bad breakup and a few too many drinks leads to Brian stumbling awkwardly into Thomas’s drag show, the magic of New York presents an exciting opportunity. For Brian, the chance to reshape his perspective on love, and for Thomas, the chance to discover what he really wants, no strings attached. But as reality–and real feelings–start to get in the way, they’ll have to decide if their feelings for each other can overcome the fear and pain of putting their hearts into the wrong hands again.

Told through the alternating perspectives of Brian Ramirez (Meet Cute Diary) and Thomas Mori (Café Con Lychee), Don’t Drag This Out is a New Adult romcom exploring queer community, identity, and redefining love and relationships as a queer twenty-something.

This tender, exuberant novel about a young man navigating coming of age in ’90s San Francisco is for readers of Garth Greenwell and André Aciman.

Walter Simmering is searching for love and purpose in a city he doesn’t realize is fading away—San Francisco in 1993, at the height of the AIDS epidemic and the dawn of the tech revolution. Out of college, out of the closet, and transplanted from the Midwest, Walter is irresistibly drawn from his shell when he meets Cary Menuhin and Sasha Stravinsky, a dynamic couple who live blithely beyond the boundaries of gender and sexuality. Witty and ultra-stylish, Cary and Sasha seem to have stepped straight out of a sultry film noir, captivating Walter through a shared obsession with cinema and Hollywood’s golden age.

As the three embark on adventures across the city, filled with joie de vivre, their lively friendship evolves in unexpected ways. When Walter befriends Lawrence, a filmmaker and former child actor living with HIV, they pursue a film project of their own, with hilarious and tragic results.

Midnight at the Cinema Palace is a vibrant and nostalgic exploration of young souls discovering themselves amidst the backdrop of a disappearing city. Christopher Tradowsky’s astonishing debut captures the essence of ’90s queer culture and the complex lives of friends seeking an aesthetically beautiful and fulfilling way of life.

Saskia Nash’s world is turned upside down when her single-parent father tears her from an idyllic childhood in Germany-leaving behind the memories of her dead mother and the protection of her beloved Opa-for a teaching position at a small Jesuit college on the East Coast. A misfit in a strange land, struggling to learn the language and customs of a good American girl, Saskia struggles with issues of belonging, sexual identity, and faith. She’s drawn to the progressive spirituality of the Jesuits at her father’s college. When strong-armed into having an abortion, Saskia is sent away to recover at Pippin House, a hospice for men dying of AIDS. It is the early 1990s.

Mourning the loss of personal choice and bodily autonomy, Saskia is assigned as a companion to Ed, a.k.a. Marlena Merlot, a dying drag queen who’s losing control over his own mind and body. When Saskia helps Marlena Merlot stage one final performance, she learns that chosen family is the one we can count on most. A Date with the Fairy Drag Queen is a story of platonic queer friendship, regaining autonomy, letting go, and learning what it means to live.

So much of who I was had to be hidden. I wondered how it would feel to let that part of me be on full display. Maybe I’d be given the chance to feel. To forget. Or even to breathe…

For most sixteen year olds, life is all about friends, fun, and family. But for Matt Franco, it’s different. Because Matt and his family are undocumented immigrants—like many other Brazilian emigres in his town. And that means he can’t get a job, he can’t get a driver’s license, and as for college? Get real. But Matt is also carrying a burden much closer to his own heart.

Matt is gay.

And right now, he’s the only one who knows it. But that changes when handsome, kind-eyed, and charming transfer student James Alberte walks into class. Because James isn’t just some queer teen crush. He’s everything Matt could ask for—and it’s James’ love, strength, and support that helps Matt finally come out to the world.

Unfortunately, love doesn’t necessarily make Matt’s situation any easier. He’s still stranded by his immigrant status, with a future that seems headed for a dead end. And if he’s ever going to be happy, Matt will have to decide what he wants, where he’s headed—and who he is at heart.

It won’t be simple. And it certainly won’t be easy.

But when it comes to life, love, and everything in between, what is?